Small business repeal smoking law
Campus Times
February 13, 1998
The new California law that prohibits smoking in bars and restaurants
went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year and was recently repealed due to
the chaos and financial hardship that thousands of California small businesses
claim to have encountered.
As of Jan. 1, 2001, smoking in bars, gaming areas, clubs and taverns
is prohibited unless the Occupational Safety and Health Administration adopts
a standard for the reduction and control of exposure of smoke. The bar operator
must cooperate within two years.
Where are all the non-smokers when you need them? There should be a
more positive reaction from society about the smoking ban because non-smokers
outnumber smokers.
The new tobacco law impacts more than 8,000 restaurants and bars where
more than 85,000 Californians are employed. With that new law, they did
not have to worry about harming their health with the secondhand smoke issue,
which kills 50,000 Americans each year.
Do any of the facts about health issues bother smokers who do not mind
having a cigarette in a bar?
Imagine walking into a crowded bar, where more than half of the people
are smoking, and having to inhale that dreadful pollutant that damages your
lungs every time you take a breath. After the night is over, you go home
and take a shower because your clothes, including hair, smells like a cigarette.
There were substantial fines that accompanied the law. Bars and restaurants
that did not abide by the smoking law had to pay up to $100 for a first
offense and up to $7,000 per violation for a series of offenses. Customers
who insisted on smoking would be fined, with the amount determined by local
authorities.
Some bar owners were upset about losing business due to the new smoking
law and, as a result, they refused to sell state lottery tickets.
If you think about it, taking away lottery tickets is a decent decision,
but they should not have to doubt their business financial situations over
this sort of issue. Look on the bright side and consider the fact that customers
could be breathing cleaner air. This should attract the customers rather
than drive them away.
Since the law was repealed, people can keep polluting the room with
unhealthy smoke, but not as much as before. Why is it so hard for someone
to just walk outside and have a cigarette? Some people are saying that it
is more convenient to have a smoke inside the bar, and if you were to go
outside, you would not be allowed to bring your drink unless the bar had
a patio.
Banning smoking should not be a negative issue for businesses even though
the tobacco industry opposes bans in restaurants and bars, saying it will
keep customers away. Most of their profits are probably coming from them
anyway.
This financial nose dive that businesses have experienced is the result
of angry citizens who want their freedom.
In time, more people will be sitting at a bar enjoying moments with
some close friends because of the fact that they will not be harming their
lives by going to some smoke pit where there is not one empty ashtray in
sight.
That enjoyable moment will probably not happen for another two years
because other people, who like the smell and sight of smoke, repealed the
law.
Smokers may think that they should have the right to smoke anywhere
they please. But think about it, there are others around you that are taking
a health risk besides themselves.
Summer Herndon, a junior photojournalism major, is photography editor
of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at herndons@ulv.edu.
